A drunken police officer in Zambia freed 13 suspects from custody so they could go celebrate the New Year, officials say.
Detective Inspector Titus Phiri was arrested after he released the suspects from the Leonard Cheelo Police Station in the capital, Lusaka, before escaping himself.
Thirteen of those arrested were charged with crimes such as assault, robbery and burglary.
All of them are currently on the run and a search has been launched for them.
Police spokesman Rae Hamoonga said Mr Phiri, “in an intoxicated state, forcibly took the mobile phone keys” from Constable Serah Banda on New Year’s Eve.
“Detective Inspector Phiri subsequently unlocked both the male and female cells and ordered the suspects to leave, saying they were free to move into the new year,” he said.
“Of the 15 suspects in custody, 13 escaped. After the incident, the police officer fled the scene.”
Mr Phiri has yet to comment on the allegations.
Reacting to the incident, former presidential spokesman and lawyer Dickson Jere wrote on Facebook: “I keep laughing every time I imagine the scenario – comical! But then I remembered a similar incident in 1997.”
On New Year’s Eve 1997, the late, controversial High Court judge Kabazo Chanda ordered the release of 53 suspects, some of whom the police considered dangerous.
Mr. Chanda was angered that the suspects were arrested as far back as 1992 but have yet to appear in court.
“Justice delayed, is justice denied,” he said.
